Felipe Massa: “Today was always going to be a learning day”

Felipe Massa feels the opening day of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, was a typical first day in Monaco.

The Williams Martini Racing driver finished as the highest placed Williams’ driver in Free Practice 1 in eleventh, nearly one second ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll, who finished in sixteenth. With everyone picking up the pace in Free Practice 2, Massa could only bring the FW38 home in thirteenth, but improved on his fastest lap time to 1:14.003.

After his performance today, the Brazilian believes the Grove-based outfit are not in a great position. The Monte Carlo street circuit has been a weaker circuit for the team in recent years, with their average qualifying position being fourteenth, with this in mind Massa believes they are currently a little better off.

“Today was a typical first day in Monaco, really,” said Massa. “We had to try and understand everything: the tyres, the balance, and try to get used to the track with the new car and new rules.

“But today was always going to be a learning day. Happy may not be the right word to describe today because we’re not in a great position, but we are a little better than we have been at this track in previous years.

“It’s definitely going to be a big fight with so many teams around us. But we’ll do everything we can and I hope we’ll be able to understand everything to improve so that we can be ready for qualifying on Saturday.”